Forst City Center

RESTRUCTURING CIVIC SPACE IN POST-SOVIET GERMANY

FORST is a small town on the border of Germany and Poland. Like other small towns in the former East Germany, it has seen its population decline. The center of the town was developed by the Soviets with large housing blocks that are now 30-70% unoccupied.

This competition outlined a demolition strategy for the Soviet housing blocks that border the main church square and called for remediation and landscape design that would bring a meaningful public space in the place of the former buildings.

Forst is known for its extensive and well-maintained rose garden, close to the city center. To strengthen the identity of the town and build up a sense of community, the proposal introduces a "see-rose" (water lily) lagoon into the footprint of one of the former Soviet buildings.

Filled with water-lilies and bordered by strong lines of trees on both sides, the lagoon quietly celebrates the town's history by recalling the footprint of the old buildings and the town pride--the rose garden.